All signals are go for Umaga

Tana Umaga steps out in training at the North Sydney Oval yesterday. Picture / Fotopress

The waiting continues, but with each medical bulletin there are signs All Black captain Tana Umaga will recover for tomorrow's Bledisloe Cup.

Even Wallaby coach Eddie Jones conceded as much yesterday as he mentioned, several times, that if Glenn McGrath could heal quickly after damaging an ankle, so could Umaga.

It was another commonsense comment in a week notable for the absence of verbal skirmishes that have marked Tri-Nations games involving Bok coach Jake White.

Jones had obviously been practising his McGrath comparison, which he trotted out in a stop at Sydney Airport en route to a Canberra coaching seminar from the Wallabies' Coffs Harbour base.

At the same airport yesterday, All Black halfback Byron Kelleher boarded a plane for New Zealand to continue his recovery after being concussed against the Springboks.

Replacement halfback Kevin Senio has fitted in well, learning the moves with the help of numbered ping-pong ball graphics in a computer program co-ordinated by assistant coach Wayne Smith.

Smith delivered a wary assessment about Umaga after the team had another run through their patterns yesterday, but it seemed to be an ultra-cautious judgment in case of complications.

"The jury is out - we have still got to see how he recovers tonight and shapes up tomorrow," Smith said. "He is tough, he is committed, so we are hopeful.

"He jogged through the moves and that sort of thing, so he did a lot of the stuff that we needed to do in preparation. We just have to see how it comes through."

Umaga had not suffered any adverse reaction to his stepping and sprinting work the day before.

Meanwhile, Smith defended the team's attacking prowess against the Boks, but condemned their finishing. The All Blacks made 18 line breaks to four in Cape Town - more than they usually made - but they lacked precision and "bombed quite a few try-scoring opportunities".

There would never be a great deal between the Tri-Nations' rivals, and the margin tomorrow would not be significant, he said.

The Wallabies had an extremely reliable, well-organised pattern that was hard to break down, while the Boks used a rushed defence that was equally difficult to pierce.

Whatever the atmosphere at Telstra Stadium, the All Blacks had to go about their business, Smith said. It was all part of growing as international players. Many had experienced tests at Cardiff or Paris.

Daniel Carter was the sort of player who would bounce back from the disappointment at Cape Town. He did not get fazed, and would not be carrying any burden from that 22-16 defeat, said Smith.

If anything, he would have benefited from the ordeal and gathered a lot of information to add to his fledgling test five-eighths career.

Getting the tactics and mental edge sharp tomorrow will be the most crucial task for the All Blacks after travelling from South Africa.